Changeable sign.



S. EVANS.

GHANGEABLE SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.30, 1914.

A1,1 17,360, Patented Nov.17,1914.

T j 5,0/0@ ryA/V5;

SAMUEL EVANS, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINIS.

CHANGEABLE SIGN.

T0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL EVANS, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Changeable Signs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to signs which are adapted to be built up, said signs being made of suitable characters, said characters, 0r the space surrounding them, being made of translucent and opaque plates; and frames; said made up signs, being disposed so as to obtain light thereon, from the rear thereof.

The object of this invention is to obtain a sign which will have a finished appear ance; which will bring into bold display the characters therein; which will invite attention to said sign; and which will permit easy and quiclr changing of the characters displayed.

A further object is to obtain a sign which is provided with a frame forming an ele ment thereof suitable to the character or style of the characters forming elements of the sign; and a sign which will not, except to those familiar with the art, disclose that it is a built up sign.

Further objects are set forth in the specications and claim.

I have illustrated a sign embodying this invention by the drawing accompanying and forming a part hereof in which- Figure l is a perspective of a frame placed in front of a boX, in position for use. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a portion of a device embodying this invention. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of said device, and of plates suitable for characters thereon, placed therein. Fig. l is a horizontal section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2, viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on line 5-5 of Fig. 2, viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows; and Fig. 6 is a vertical section on line 6 6 of Fig. 2, also viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 7 is a perspective of a plate provided with a character thereon, duplicates of said plate provided with suitable characters thereon forming the sign designed to be displayed in this device. Fig. 8 is a perspective of a plate of translucent material designed to form a backing of the platefwhich is illustrated in Fig. 6. Figs.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 30, 1914.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914;. semi No. 828,288.

2 and 3 are on an enlarged scale from Fig. l; and the remaining figures of the drawing are on a yet larger scale.

A reference letter applied to designate a given part indicates said part throughout the several figures of the drawing, wherever the same appears.

X is a box; and the device embodying this invention forms the front of said box.

A, are metal U-shaped bars forming the bottoni, top and side bars of the device.

B is a horizontally disposed bar which is substantially midway between the top and bottom bars A, and extends from one side bar A to the'other thereof.

C are horizontally disposed bars which are parallel to the top and bottom bars A, and extend from one of the side bars A to the other one thereof.

D are vertically disposed bars, placed in the saine plane as are bars C, and extending between bars C and from bars C to the top and bottom bars A.

E are horizontally disposed bars, in the saine plane as are bars A and. C, and D, and extend from the vertical bar D at one end of the device to the like vertical bar D at the other end thereof.

F are vertically disposed bars, which extend from bars C to bars A, and between said bars C and E.

G, G1 are sheets or plates of colored, ornamental glass, which are translucent. The several plates G, G1, are built in between the several bars, and said bars are of opaque material.

H are H-shaped bars which are vertically arranged in a plane back of the plane in which the bars A, B and C are placed. Bars H are of opaque material, and the front `fates thereof are of the same color as are the front faces of the plates I, (see Fig. 7), surrounding the character J. The plate I (or at least the character J thereon) is substantially transparent, and is usually made of clear glass, with the part surrounding and forming the character thereon is covered with opaque material, as japan, or black paint.

K `is a plate of translucent material; and is shown as of White glass or porcelain.

By inspection of Fig. 3 it will be seen that plate I is of such length, as compared with the depth of the pockets formed by bars H, that two of said plates may be placed in each of said pockets; one thereof resting on the other, and that the upper edge oi the lowerplate ll and the bottom edge of the upper plate meet in baalt of the horizontally disposed bar B, With the lower one resting on bar H1,

ln making up a sign in this device the required sheets l are placed in the pockets therefor, and the plates l are placed in said pockets back oit said plates l. rlhe color of the plates K thus determines the color oi" the characters forming the sign, when light is directed on the trarne, (including the sign) from Within the box X.

ln the device herein described the sign consists ci two lines; one line being :termed by the lower row of plates l and the other by the upper rotaz v l clairng y j ln a device ci' the kind described7 a skeleton trarne comprising vertical and horizontal bars of opaque material, arranged to term a relatively large central opening and marginal openings surrounding sa1d central opening, a plurality of colored glass plates in said marginal openings; an opaque bar horizontally disposed intermediate the upper and lower edges of said central opening; vertical recessed bars arranged behind and across said central opening to form pockets; opaque plates provided With transparent characters arranged in said pockets, there being two plates in each pocket, one above the other with their meeting edges back oft said intermediate horizontal bar, and a translucent plate arranged in each pocket behind said character bearing plates.

SAMUEL EVANS. ln the presence ot- @namens TURNER BRoWN, @iraniens Hannon. 

